


Of Friends and Foes

by orphan_account



Series: Borderlands [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Feels, Murder, My First Fanfic, Violence, suspense?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-15 20:13:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: (OC fic)A new, young Vault Hunter has joined the fray on Pandora. But she soon realizes she is in way over her head, even if she's too stubborn to admit it.From Sanctuary, to a living hell within a year. Who thought it possible?





	1. Ain't no place for no hero

"Dust reflected off the gold rays of sunlight shining through the open door in the headquarters of the Crimson Raiders, and I had been enjoying a well-earned rest before an unknown shrieking animal entered the doorway.

The sharp cawing echoed off the rusty walls and I nearly fell off my bunk bed. It was Bloodwing, Mordecai's stupid trash-feeder.

With my light silver eyes barely open I mumbled a “go away” when the drunk sniper himself, entered and told me Roland wanted to speak with me. I’d never liked being woken up rudely, especially in the morning.

“Why?” I complained, still half asleep and pulling the motheaten blanket tighter around me like a burrito. My head lolled upside-down off the opposite side of the small bed.

“Just get up, I have enough of a headache as it is, Catlynne”. 

Mordy had a disposition for being a drunkard, today was no acceptation. The disgusting scent of the cheap beer he’d been obviously drinking wafted around the room. 

I grudgingly rolled out of the old, creaky bed, flattening my messy hair that reached just above my shoulders. People told me it was the colour of mulled wine, whatever that was.

As per usual, I grabbed my knife from under my pillow, my Hyperion corrosion sniper off the end of my bed, and my pistol which I had taken to call “Acute lead dealer” from the locker beside me. 

The knife was just a hunting one I’d found some time ago, with a partially serrated edge and a peeling, black rubber grip that got too hot to hold if you left it in the sun for too long.

“Even though I’m the youngest Vault Hunter you should still treat me with respect, idiot.” I replied groggily. That part was true, I had kind of started hunting for Vaults since I was twelve, and was now fifteen. 

“Whatever. Tell Roland I'll be in Tundra Express.” 

“Right.” 

He and his bird left to probably go get another drink from Moxxi’s.

When he was gone, I changed into my ragged day clothes; a shirt that I believed to originally be a tan colour but was now “camouflaged” with stripes of black, lighter black, grey, and white. A relatively new pair of sun-bleached off-white pants which were torn at the bottom, a tarnished leather jacket, and a thin, blood-red scarf around my neck to finish off whatever aesthetic I had going. 

I thought that I could possibly have time to grab a bite of breakfast before meeting Roland if I snuck out the back door.

Apparently not.

Just I was about to walk through the town square, the ECHO communicator that I always wore on my side beeped twice. It was a message from Roland, who said:

“This is important, Catlynne. And I can see you from the HQ balcony.” 

With a displeased grunt, I turned and looked up to see him waving from said balcony.

I rolled my eyes, let out an annoyed sigh and walked into the half-assed headquarters of the Crimson Raiders. I mean, seriously? They couldn’t have picked a better place to build their base? Perhaps the old Dahl power dam. If they could muster up the courage and force to clear that place of Bloodshots. What was I saying? They'd never have the courage...or the men.

“Hurry up, I don't need you ruining my experiments!” The irritable and pious Dr. Tannis snapped at me as I took a step through the grungy door.

“Is that Eridium?” I asked, intrigued by the bright purple bars that glowed with an alien energy.

"Yes, you insufferable skag-child! Now go away!” While she was distracted, I pretended to drop a glass vial (“honestly, why Roland even bring you in from that arid land is beyond me.”) Just to snag a bag of Eridium bars from under her desk before going up to meet Roland, like I was originally supposed to do.

“And I am not just a child” I muttered in passing.

I'd always hated being treated like a kid, especially by adults who wouldn't let me prove my worth. And the way she’d treated me like a cockroach once I was brought in from the edge of the Nexus, slagged and fried by not only the sun but the chemicals as well, was unnerving. 

 

I did grow up in Fyrestone, a small desert town. A great description of Pandora if there ever was one; dry, treacherous, and abandoned by anyone with a shred of common sense. 

Hyperion didn’t take over the small town until I was around eight, but still, I would unknowingly bring back dangerous things into the house me and my parents lived in. 

Skag pups, spiderants, you name it, I would want it as a pet.

I didn’t know, at such a young age, how to tell if my parents were truly angry at me, I figured it out though.

When I was older (about ten), I could sense the tension in the tiny sheet metal shack. Boiling and violent, like an active volcano ready to blow any minute. One tiny vibration could make it explode. That’s what happened; I’d get home, get yelled at, beaten, and even shot at until I put a stop to it all.

Earlier that week, I’d found a wounded GUN loader, disassembled it, found out how the guns worked, and made myself one. No fancy digi-struction things, just a crappy rifle with a laser pointer badly duct-taped to the scope. 

When I got home, I didn’t hesitate. I killed them.

Or thought I did.

My mother had a heath pack and ran after me. I ran and ran.  
Past the info stockade, through the Arid Nexus and was nearly at the bridge before one of her continuous bullets knocked me off my balance and into a pool of raw slag. 

The chemical stung my side and face where I fell, but fortunately I shot at a massive flock of Rakk and they swooped down at my mother, leaving me enough time to try to work through the bubbling agony and limp away to the Hyperion bridge.

The black concrete had nipped with burning fangs at my feet until I could walk no more and dropped to the ground, exhausted. 

The next thing I remember was waking up in Sanctuary being watched by Vault hunters. I never told anyone about what I did to my parents.

No one needed to know. 

“As I said, you can get breakfast later, so stop moping.” Roland said as I quickly pulled myself up onto the chilly steel counter, picking at the fading red paint.

“I'm not moping, just tired and hungry. What did you need me to do?” I replied with a yawn, looking up at the T.V.s. One had a dating site profile that I giggled at.

“Go check up on Lilith, that's all. Make sure she's still keeping the bandits under control.”

“Aww. You worried about your little guuurlfriennd?” I jokingly teased.

“Mordecai'll drive you to Frostburn Canyon. Just go.” I coughed to clear some morning dust out of my chest.

“Fine.” I replied, hopping off the counter. 

Before I left, I walked down past Moxxi's bar to grab a slice of pizza. I didn’t like to stay there long, even in the mornings the music was too loud, and the people were still drunk. But damn, was the food good.  
With my small pizza box in hand, I hopped in the car and Bird-guy Mordecai drove me the short distance to Frostburn Canyon. 

I even fell asleep on the way there and had to be pushed out of the car into the fresh, powdery snow to wake up.


	2. Sirens and CEOs

“See ya, kid!” Mordecai said as he drove away with my pizza.

“Ugh. Thanks, prick...” I replied sleepily, checking for a bloody nose and heading into the glistening chasm of ice. 

I effortlessly unstrapped the Hyperion sniper rifle which I had found at an engineering plant off my back, scouting out my soon-to-be prey.  
In the way were hordes upon hordes of bandits; psychos, nomads, and a few badasses of every type. 

Slowly and quietly, I edged up to a ladder, climbed up nimbly, and raced forward, parkouring over the heads of the unsuspecting killers.

It wasn’t something I hadn’t done before. Killing people was part of the job description, but I preferred to sneak by, leave them for when I get enough money that I’m not wasting bullets. So, I’d trained with Mordecai to climb and snipe. Multiple times, he’d brought me out to the beautifully dangerous Highlands to practice. 

They ended up being my favourite place to just hang out alone.

Deciding against drawing attention to myself by firing a gun, I continued ahead to where the snowy path opened a bit.

“This might be a problem...” I said to myself, referring to the bandits everywhere, and the innate lack of any place to hide or sneak by.

As I was scouting out the area, a giant spiderweb suddenly contacted my face. Freaking out, I did a frenzied dance to possibly shake off any spiderlings on my person. 

Once I’d figured out that the only way around would be to go straight through, I would have to do what the “professionals” call “running for it and praying they don't get shot.”

“Three, two, one, go!” I urged myself, yet my body didn't want to move. “A one, a two, a three, run!” Nothing. “Ya gotta do it, JUST MOVE.” My brain was screaming at my legs to run, and they did. 

“Youareawesomeyouareawesomeyouareawesome.” I said encouragingly to myself, carefully dodging bullets and buzz-axes as I (not-so) gracefully sprinted across the open hive.

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, I reached the mouth of Lilith's lair. What was waiting for me? A badass psycho.

I shot it once, corroding its flesh, but now it was a corroded, screeching, badass psycho, who was running as fast as he could towards me, wielding a massive pipe.

Fortunately, I was smaller than this brute, and being smaller had its advantages. Dodging a blow from the shabby weapon it held, I drew a hunting knife from my skag-skin belt.

In a flash, the beast was dead, my blood-coated knife buried in its skull.  
“Woo!” I cheered, not noticing the audience I'd attracted with my recent wrestle.

“Oh hi. Do you really want to fight me?” I asked the horde of bandits in front of me. They laughed and took a few steps forward. “Well...It's your funeral.” I tossed a sticky grenade lazily into the middle of the crowd and watched as the psychopaths were exploded.

“So easy when they think you're an easy kill, they barely put in any effort.” I mumbled to myself, ducking under a half-collapsed door. 

Lilith was sitting on a wooden crate when I walked up to her. “Hey, Lilith. Not sure if you remember me but my name is--”

“--Catlynne, I remember you. You used to steal my Eridium and I'd have to chase you up to the rooftops.  
Why did Roland send you, a child, through that bandit camp?” She interrupted.

“I'm not just a child, ok? I've hunted for Vaults too, I can handle myself.”

She didn’t look convinced but invited me to sit down at a small round table. Everything was good, we were chatting about life and other things, until she teleported a bag of chips to the table.

I fell out of my metal folding chair. “Y-you’re-you're a siren?” I stumbled over my words.

"Yes, do you not remember me phasewalking before?”

“Uhh,” I brushed myself off and attempted to act normal, “no, but I think I'll be going now” Thankfully, my ECHO device had started beeping.

“Yeah, I'm here. What do you need?” I asked Roland.

“Stay put, that's all. We're currently under a blitz warning from Helios and there's a blizzard on the horizon. I'd send Mordecai to get you, but his ECHO has only replied with drunken slurs, and there is a Catch-a-Ride station out there, but you can't drive yet. I'll pick you up after the storm hits.”

Completely ignoring Roland's warnings, I headed over to the portable car station and chose a scrappy runner.   
It was rusty, grimy, and altogether old-fasioned in design, but it was the best I had until I got something better. Like a motorcycle, I'd always liked the thought of riding a motorcycle over the burning sands of the Dust, the warm wind blowing through my hair. I shook off the thought and ordered a car.

Driving the vehicle was more fun than previously expected, albeit I did crash into a glacier around Snowbound Crossroads, it was fun. Until private Jessup decided to not let me into Sanctuary.

“What do you mean “I could be Hyperion?” I have shown you my I.D. Well, read it out. But that is not the point! I'm freezing my face off out here, and I don't want to end up like Handsome Jack, just LET. ME. IN!”

“Sorry, lady. Roland's orders, no strangers into sanctuary.” I lost it.

“I AM NOT A STRANGER!!! Fine. I'll climb the wall! Do you want me to climb the wall? I'm climbing the wall!”

With my past acquired skills learned from childhood escapes and Mordecai’s training, I scaled the rough concrete wall. The snow and ice blowing harshly into my face didn't make it any easier, but eventually, I got to the top and jumped down.

“Hello.” I said, a bit out of breath.

“Don’t make me shoot you!” Jessup replied, pointing his lame rifle at my face.

“Oh please. You haven't even taken the safety off, if you meant to kill me, I would already be dead.” That left him looking over his rifle stupidly while I walked back into the city.

Before reporting back to Roland, I headed over to Scooter's garage in search of a better vehicle. 

“Scooter? You here?” I called. No response. Soon enough, I found what looked to be a prototype of a motorcycle hanging from a rack on the wall. It was a plain grey bike with a single headlight and a torn seat. But thinking: “this is the best I'm gonna get,” I grabbed it off its holder and hid it down a secluded alley before going to the Crimson Raiders headquarters.

“What do you mean “you're leaving?”” I said after taking a few bucks as a reward from Roland.

“Catlynne, we need a new power core or Sanctuary won't survive another blitz from Hyperion. Corporal Riess has gone to look for it, but his ECHO is sending off SOS signals. I'm going to go look for him.”

“Can I come with you, like, for backup?” I asked hopefully, hopping up on the counter.

“No, we do have a few other Vault hunters who should be arriving in Sanctuary soon though. You could get them some food once they arrive.”

Really? That’s what he’s getting me to do?

“But I can fight! You've seen me!” I argued, trying to keep my voice off the whiny side and failing.

Roland pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Yes, I have, but not this time. Not until you're older. See you.” With that, he exited Sanctuary.

“WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS HELL-HOLE TREAT ME LIKE A CHILD?!” I yelled in frustration, kicking the concrete wall. “Ow!”

After that, I tried to catch a few Rakks on the rooftops before I found myself getting hungry. Moxxi’s was closed since Moxxi wasn’t even there, so I fell back on one of the street vendors selling food.

When a couple minutes passed, I was gloomily enjoying a skag and firemelon kebab in the town square and listening to the radio, an all-too familiar voice came over Sanctuary's speakers.

“This is a message to the people of Sanctuary! The “last stronghold of the resistance.” Pandora as you know it; the chaos, the bandits, that time has passed. If you let it, this could be an era of order, of peace! Just turn yourselves in and I promise, your deaths will be quick!” In a brilliant flash, every single time I'd been treated like dust swept under a rug in the Crimson Raiders flew through my mind. 

Like, when I first arrived, Roland kept telling me I couldn’t fight.

“Hell, can you even fire a gun?” He said with a laugh. I replied by shooting all five different types of guns excluding rocket launchers successfully at the target range.   
After that, I was spat on by the Crimson Raiders for apparently being Hyperion, I proved them wrong by rescuing a group of them from a patrol of actual Hyperions. There were other times as well, believe me.

"Well screw this place." I thought. Grabbing the stolen motorbike I’d hidden, I took a few minutes to get the hang of riding it before I sped to the nearest Hyperion outpost in the tundra.

When I arrived, I parked my bike behind a snow-covered boulder and knocked on the snowy yellow gates. A high-pitched robotic voice seemed to echo from someplace in the air, but it was just a shield surveyor.

“Drop your weapons and ammunition immediately.” I let fall my guns, knife, the rest of the magazines, and my two belts of grenades, kicking them away to insure I couldn’t reach them that quickly.

“Thank you.” The robotic voice said, and I felt something painful collide with the back of my head before falling to the snow. 

I woke up in handcuffs, sitting in a space shuttle. This was not a good situation.   
I knew now that I wouldn't be killed quickly and left in the Three Horns divide. No, I was going to Helios, which most likely meant death by torture for me. I didn't complain though, there was no reason to. I'd gotten myself into this, and it would end in my death. Whoopsie, strike three, swing and a miss.

Eventually the shuttle docked at the station; Helios I heard it was called, and I was in the eye of it. The eye of Helios. The small cage I was in levitated off the ground and followed the two guards escorting me to god knows where.

“So, where am I going?” I inquired, keeping my voice as cheery as I could for someone about to be tortured to death.

“Shut your mouth, bandit.” The one on the right snarled, pressing a button on a large elevator.

The three of us headed up to a higher floor, the glass elevator shooting up past floors so quickly they were almost a blur.

I felt like I was about to retch when the metal doors slid open to reveal a large hall, with one massive window overlooking Elpis. In front of this window were a desk and a chair. Sitting at said desk was the very person I had dreaded seeing, let alone talking to. 

Handsome Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A girl has promised a longer chapter, and a longer chapter she has delivered. This was a fun chapter to write with Catlynne going up to Helios and all that jazz lol. As always, comments and kudos are always helpful and motivating for me. Next chapter will be updated tomorrow. Thanks!


	3. Here at Hyperion

“Well, kiddo. You really were stupid enough to-” he swiveled around in his chair, “-how old is she?” Jack looked surprised someone so young was in his office.

“I don’t know, sir.” The guard on my left replied.

“I'm fi-fifteen.” I stuttered slightly, intimidated. Handsome Jack put his feet up on his desk lazily and smirked.

“Really? And you're a Vault Hunter?”

I rolled my eyes, feigning calm. “I do have Eridium on me.” This seemed to attract his attention. I reached into a pocket on my pant leg and pulled out the bag of Eridium nuggets, throwing them up the staircase.

“Ok Kiddo. Whatever.” He looked bored, and me, forgetting who I was speaking to, broke out of the guards’ grasp and marched up to his desk.

“Look, Jack. If you aren't going to take this seriously, neither am I. I may be young, but I'm betting I could take you on.” He chuckled, which made me nervous; I glanced to either side, looking for a way out.

“With what? Your hands don't count since they're currently cuffed, if you tried to kick me, well, you'd probably just fall over. You have no guns or extra arms that I can see, and you are not a Siren, so, I love the confidence, kid, but no. It's not happening.” I bit the inside of my cheek, a nervous habit. This was like a game of chess, where he currently had me in checkmate, and I was desperately looking for any loophole. But he was right, I had nothing.  “So, you gonna say anything, cupcake, or can you leave?” I snapped out of my trance, and the guards escorted me to one of the bloody cells.

“Good luck getting out of those cuffs, bandit.” One guard said as he locked the door.

“You don't have to worry, I probably will.” The guards laughed and walked away.  
“Right, now to get out of these.”

I went up beside a wall and painfully dislocated my thumb to slide out of the cuffs.

After I'd popped it back into place, I removed the shield generator from the small light above me and fashioned my own personal defense mechanism. It worked alright, and it would prove even more useful later.

It was dark in the cell, mostly because the light was gone and there were no windows, but I was rudely woken up by metal clanging coming down the hall.

I stood bolt upright just before one EXP loader and two GUN loaders entered.

“Oh crap.” I hissed.

Knowing from experience that EXPs were basically robotic suicide psychos, I threw a chair at its legs, knocking it over and jumping over the electronic blast. Then I remembered the GUN loaders. Without thinking, I grabbed the gun arm of one of the loaders and yanked as hard as I possibly could.My rash actions dislodged a couple cords of metal and revealed some wiring, but not much else.

"Shit.”

I was hit, hard. The impact sent me flying across the small room into a metal table on the far wall.

I barely had time to hide behind it before bullets started ricocheting off the titanium. My lip was bleeding, although I knew the blood trickling from my mouth wasn't just from a split lip, and the pain in my chest was incredible. But that wasn't my top priority, getting out of there was. As Handsome Jack said, I had nothing to attack the bots head-on with, but did have my shield.

I quickly got up and tackled the first bot, knocking over the second as well. Thinking quick, I grabbed the broken leg of the smashed chair and crowbarred the arm off the GUN loader.

The yellow and grey robotic arm popped off with a spark of electricity, and I swiftly shot both bots to “death.” The rifle was decent, nothing compared to my old corrosion one that I had, but I still kept it for protection and headed down the hall.

I soon found the elevator and frantically pushed the button to go down. Not long after nothing happened, a robotic female voice rang over the speaker beside me. ‘Attention, prisoner has escaped. Initiating lockdown.’ The door clanked, signifying that there was no way of unlocking it from here. And the elevator had probably been shut down anyways.

“You could always hack it.” The little voice in my brain said. But I was a person who built stuff, not a hacker. Maybe, if I could “persuade” someone else into hacking the doors, I could get back to Pandora.

After looking around a bit, I found an unlocked stairwell and headed down.

On the 25th floor, I luckily found a group of interns getting a tour of the security offices. One wearing glasses kept interrupting, giving weirdly specific facts about computer systems. His friend, who looked very business-like, kept laughing and telling him to be quiet.

“Hmm.” I'd decided glasses-face could help.

Shadowing the small, tightly packed group of interns and apprentices was difficult without being seen, but it was no different than sneaking up on psychos. I found a ceramic mug that was sitting in a trash bin and threw it at the center of the group.

As I had hoped, the group hastily disbanded, and I grabbed glasses-face out of the fray, pulling him to a small alcove.  
“Be quiet and no one dies.” I hissed, pressing my gun to his neck.

“Ok.” He looked rather frightened, and I almost pitied him.

“Vaughn? Where are you?” His friend called.

"Okay, I don't have much time. I need you to hack into the door systems and unlock them. All of them."

"Uhh, o-ok." He just tapped on his glasses and said it was done.

"K thanks bye."

I sprinted to the nearest elevator on the floor above me, and hastily pushed the button to go to the docks. The doors opened, and I carefully stepped through. A few seconds later, the doors clicked and opened, revealing rows and rows of shuttles.

Unfortunately, I neglected to see the badass constructor and its turret. The large mortar-like weapon fired, and I jumped out of the way. Granted, it didn't hit my main torso, but it did hit something. That something was my leg. I didn’t have time to scream in pain before passing out.

Weeks later, I woke up in what looked to be a very high-tech hospital room. An IV plugged into my right forearm sustained fluids, but that wasn't her primary concern. I wanted to know what happened to my leg. I moved the blanket aside, and gasped. It was gone, replaced by a silver and yellow metal one

“Well shit. My leg has been blown off. Anything else you'd like to do for me Handsome Jack?! Kill me?!” I hadn't expected a reply, but over the speaker somewhere in the room, Handsome Jack's voice replied.

“Listen Kiddo, you are a badass. I just wanted to get that out of the way. Now, I have already tried to kill you. But, instead of attempting that again, I'd like to offer you a job. If you're up to it.”

I considered the offer. A job working under Handsome Jack was better than the Crimson Raiders, that's for sure.

“Uh, ok? I'll take it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the chapters aren't that long, I apologize. It does just create more anticipation for anyone who's reading though. The whole fic is already written, so I'll probably have it all posted later today or tomorrow. Thanks!


	4. My own Sanctuary

A few days later I'd gotten used to the new leg, although it got cold and hot easily, it was ok. 

I landed in Lynchwood and was supposed to take the train at 1:30am that would take me to Tundra Express. 

I hadn't questioned Jack's not wanting to use fast-travel to get back to Sanctuary since he didn't like people asking questions. 

The train ride was bumpy because it wasn't one of the super fancy trains that hovered above whatever obstacles were in its way. No, I was on a cargo train. That part was my idea. Less conspicuous than a high-tech Hyperion train, and less likely to get attacked by bandits or rebels. 

 

Unfortunately, the idea did not work out that well. I never really liked Tundra Express, those varkid things always freaked me out, but I needed to go through it if I wanted to get into Sanctuary.   
The train stopped, and I was expecting the robotic voice to tell any people on-board to get off. No such voice ever came. 

 

“Alright, anyone who is on this crap train, drop your cash and go.” I wasn't just going to leave, this was my best shot at proving myself. 

“No!” I spat back, not knowing if whoever was speaking could hear me. 

“Aww,that's cute. Kill her.” I raised my gun, waiting for the marauders to enter the train, and without hesitation, shot them all down. 

“So, bitch. You killed my bandits. Have fun getting out of this alive.” 

“Excuse me? Do you know who sent me here directly?” I replied, thinking mentioning Handsome Jack might get me out of here without wasting anymore bullets. 

“Non.” 

“Handsome Jack. So, if you don't let me out of here nicely, you're going to die even sooner, bandit.” 

“Ha! Fine! Come on out then.” I smirked and left the small train car. A few feet away, and I felt a gun pressed against the back of my head. 

“Wow. Tsk tsk...And they told me you Hyperions were smart. The name's Trixi by the by.” The female bandit said, her voice slightly accented. 

“Catlynne. Not so nice to meet you. What brings you out here? Me? I'm on a classified mission. 

“I see what you're doing ya'know.” Trixi replied as if she knew everything about me, it was annoying. 

“Oh really? Well then, Trixi the all-knowing, reveal your secret.”   
I felt the gun move away from my skull for just a second and kicked her in the knee. 

"Mere bisère! L'attaquer!" She yelled, trying to shoot at me as I rolled behind a large plate of metal. 

The brand-new shield I was given before the mission reflected bullets right back at this bandit queen or whatever she was. 

“Not so high and mighty are you now, huh bandit?!” 

“You'll pay for this, Hyperion scum!” She cried back.   
While I was shooting, I hadn't noticed the suicide psycho that snuck up on me and blew away most of my shield. 

Trixi took the damn shot, and her bullet hit me directly in the hand. 

“Okay play time's over. Send in the Moonshot to Tundra Express!” I shouted into my ECHOcomm.   
In a few seconds, the telltale sound of a Moonshot echoed through the dawn skies, as well as the frantic yells of the bandits to “Get down!”   
I sprinted away from the blast just as it landed. 

“Cat?! Jesus, where've you been? And what happened to your leg?” Damnit, Mordecai saw me. I decided to play it cool, if there was any way of getting into Sanctuary easily, this was it. 

“Hey, Mordecai! Crazy story! Can you get me back to Sanctuary? I was captured!” I yelled up to the tower. 

“I might not be able to, but maybe one of the Vault Hunters who're here can.” 

“I'll go, you guys can spend an hour without me.” I heard a woman's voice from my right, and looked to see Maya, who'd been wanted by Hyperon for like, the last twelve years or more. 

"Jack, I'm trapped with Maya the siren, heading to Sanctuary. I'll update later.” 

“Good luck, Pumpkin.” Came his sarcastic response.   
I tried hard to avoid any conversations with Maya by complaining about the hole in my hand, this however, didn't work. 

“Oh, here, have my health kit. I sure as hell don't need it now.”   
Maya took a long syringe out of her bag and handed it to me. 

“Uh, thanks.” I said, injecting the red liquid into my arm. 

“So, how'd you get captured?” Oh crap, I did not think this through. 

“Umm...” Maya tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes, and I knew she was onto my bullshit. 

“Got lost. Yeah... And knocked out.” 

“Interesting…” I blankly stared forward at the upcoming Sanctuary.   
The two of us headed into the gates, and Maya returned to the rest of the vault hunters. Little did I know, someone had followed me. 

Lilith was back in HQ, and that was better for me. My entire mission was revolved around finding out any information I could and relay it back to Handsome Jack. 

“You're not dead?” Roland said when I entered. 

“Neither are you.” I replied dryly. I had recently been told that Roland had escaped Hyperion custody, and it was a pity to see him alive. But I wasn't on an assassination mission, just find and report. 

“So where have you been?” Lilith asked, ignoring the tone in my voice. 

“Captured by Hyperion.” 

“Same.” Said Roland. I told what lies needed to be told, and eventually, after casually glancing at computer screens, found one that read; Power core low.   
I tried not to smile when I read the bold letters. 

“You Hyperion scum! You blew up my camp!” Trixi had found a way in. 

“Who are you?!” I asked, trying to keep my cool. 

“You know damn well who I am!” Roland and Lilith didn't look like they knew what was going on. 

“Hyperion? Are you a spy?” Lilith asked, her siren tattoos started glowing a fiery orange. 

“Sorry 'bout this!” I un-holstered my small pistol and shot Roland. The bullet hit him in the leg, but I didn't care.   
All of Sanctuary was after me now. 

“Ok, Sir. Get me back up to Helios please!” I said breathlessly into my ECHO comm. 

“Righteo, cupcake.” I was immediately fast travelled back to Jack's office. 

“So, how's your day been?” Handsome Jack asked, eating those crappy pretzels from the Hyperion vending machines. 

“Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick...” I never liked fast travel, and that was a long way to go. 

“Ok...? And? How did your mission go?” I straightened myself up. 

“It went ok. Not much info out in the open, but they do need a new power core!” He looked intrigued by this. 

“Ok. Anything else, Angel?” 

“Umm...” 

“No, I'm not talking to you!” 

 

A young female voice sounded around the room. “She did attempt to kill Roland.” 

“Really? That's maybe something you'd like to discuss with me, kiddo?”   
Angel, whoever she was, seemed to have left. 

“I swear I was going to tell you!” 

“Relax, I'm not going to lose it on you for attempting to kill the leader of those filthy bandits.” 

I sighed in relief. 

"But, you didn't kill him.” I stayed silent, scared of my new boss, and scared of what he was capable of. “When you do try and kill someone, either shoot them in the face, or make sure they are dead. Rip their throat out for all I care. Just make sure he's dead next time. Got that, cupcake?” 

“Yes, I do, but their siren didn't help.” 

“Siren? What siren? The Vault Hunter you were escorted by? Maya, I think it was?” He stood up. 

“Uh no, Lilith, sir. She's a siren.” He kept his features calm, but I could tell that, under that mask, was pure, seething anger. 

“Ok. I want you to go back to Pandora and bring me one of those FILTHY BANDITS! ANY ONE OF THEM, NOW!” I quickly backed off, nervous, and pressed the button on the fast-travel system. 

“Let's see. Sirens are out of my league and going into Sanctuary is out of the question. But...Oh, hello!” I spotted Trixi, sitting at the edge of a skag pit. “Yep.” 

I snuck up behind her with my sniper rifle and jabbed it into the back of her head. She was unconscious, and something small and sharp latched on to my hand. 

“What the-?” It was a young stalker. 

“Okay, I have to go now. Actually, you can come too.” I flicked it, and it was knocked out. “Now I'm just hoping Jack isn't still mad.” I dragged Trixi and her stalker over to the Fast-Travel station and headed back to Helios. 

Jack was looking over some digi-structed papers on his desk. 

“Hey! I got the baaannndit!” Handsome Jack stood up and walked towards me. 

“Good job, kiddo.” The small stalker that I thought was safely asleep I my pocket, squirmed out and jumped onto Jack's face   
“Ugh, is this thing a stalker?” He said, pulling it off his head. 

“Yeah, I tried to knock it out, but apparently it didn't do much.” I replied. 

“Well, I'll have it sent to the wildlife preserve. You however, are going to the Highlands. There's a new job I think you'd like...” 

“Okay!” I said excitedly. 

“Just a second, someone will have to make sure she doesn't wake up.” He turned on his ECHOcomm and talked to some person called “Nisha” for a bit. 

Soon enough, a dark-skinned woman in a sheriff's outfit came through the fast-travel network. She gave me the impression that she was not to be trifled with. Her western-style boots clicked cardinally against the marble tiles as they crossed the hall with an air of superiority. 

“Hey.” I greeted meekly, feeling intimidated. 

She said a simple “howdy” in response, not an answer I’d expect from her, if I’d even expected an answer at all. 

Jack gave Nisha the orders to keep Trixi unconscious. When Nisha laughed in response, it was as salient and venomous as a scorpion's sting. Jack finished up with his chat and swept me off to some place called The Bunker. 

Instead of fast-travelling directly, we landed near Overlook and he drove me to Thousand Cuts. 

The highlands were pretty; the slate-grey and mossy green blended almost like watercolour, with the glittering Hyperion city of Opportunity on the horizon shooting it through with white and yellow. 

“That’s the Bunker up there, Kiddo. Take it in…” Jack pointed to a circular type thing with a waterfall perched at the summit of an acute cliff. From the base we fast-travelled up. 

Everything inside was very Hyperion-like, yellow, grey and black colours were everywhere. It reeked of ego, and I enjoyed it. 

“I guess here at Hyperion, you only have the most yellow of things.” I joked. Handsome Jack smirked slightly. 

“Good one, Kiddo. Anyways, through here.” He led me past what looked like rivers of liquid Eridium, the violet liquid flowing quickly into a separate chamber. 

“What goes on here?” I asked, dragging my hand lightly over the cool surface of the tube. 

 

“You'll see.” Handsome Jack replied, leading me to a small elevator. “Go on. Ladies first.” He coaxed, gesturing to the chamber. I walked into the cramped glass tube and pressed the only button. 

“Woah.” The glass doors opened into a massive open-concept loft. 

The floor was marble; like Handsome Jack’s office, tiled in silver and black with accents of yellow, and the same frigid temperature. Outside, a shiny glass balcony wound around the building and overlooked the Highlands. 

The sight was breathtaking, I felt like I could see to the other side of Pandora. In fact, I could see a sliver of the distant golden sands of the dust.   
In the living room, there was a flat-screen ECHOnet TV and a long, plush black couch which was very tempting to just flop down on. The kitchen was very large, and very fancy. 

Mahogany cupboards lined the walls with a natural charm, the sink was normal; movement activated.   
One new thing was the garbage disposal; the base dropped out and the garbage was whisked off. 

“Careful not to get your hand stuck in there or it’ll rip off your arm. Don’t need another lost limb, do we?” Handsome Jack warned. 

“Yeah, one leg is enough.” I drummed my fingers on my cybernetic thigh and moved over to the fridge, which had two buttons on it. 

“THE FRIDGE DISPENSES ICE AND WATER?!” I could tell I was way too excited. 

“Yes, cupcake. Didn’t know that’s what you’d get excited about.” Jack was watching from the desk beside the elevator. 

I basically flew to the master bedroom. It was, like everything else, prestigious and magnificent. The king-sized bed was white, grey and yellow, with two glass bed-side tables and a massive walk-in closet, already prepped with sharp business clothes and ragged, camouflaged Pandoran attire. 

“Thanks, Jack! So, what am I doing up here anyways?” I asked him. 

“Follow me, kiddo.” Handsome Jack led me to a tall bookshelf, and pulled on a small, white, untitled book. 

The metal shelf swung open with an almost satisfying continuous squeak, to reveal a regular-sized office with a few monitors suspended from the wall. 

The films looked to be from cameras in a massive round room. In the middle of this room was a girl, looked to be around my age. One side of her head was shorn of hair, and the rest was raven black and kept in a side ponytail. But what was most intriguing were the large white wings that kept her afloat in a giant shield, and the tubes of Eridium linked into her arms. 

She was a Siren. 

“That is your job, to protect my Siren. Think you can do that?” He asked. 

"Of course. But I have a question." 

"Yes?" 

"Can I talk to this Siren?" 

He looked thoughtful for a moment before typing some type of code into the keyboard that I recognized as Hyperphire. 

"Yes, you can now, pumpkin." 

"Thanks!" 

"Right, I've gotta jet. Things to see, people to do! Nope, reverse that!" With that, Handsome Jack left. 

I undressed and had a shower before changing into a comfortable Hyperion hoodie and some grey sweatpants then turning on the communications to talk somewhat face-to-face with the Siren. 

"Hello, my name is Catlynne Sterling. Please, you can call me Cat. Do you need anything today?" I asked politely. 

"I believe I have everything that I need as of now. How are you?" I was surprised, this was Angel. I'd thought she was just a Hyperion A.I. 

"I am great! You?" 

"Never better..." Angel sounded sad, although I didn't know why. 

"What is your name?" I asked, just wanting to be sure. 

"Angel." She replied. 

"Right. Can I tell you something?" 

"Sure." 

"I just want to let you know that I have an irrational fear of Sirens." I heard a couple small chuckles come from the console. 

"What?" 

"Nothing, I just didn't expect that." 

"Ha, yeah." *Beep beep* my ECHO signaled that a new call was coming through. "Sorry, Angel. Gotta go! Be back later." I chirped.   
"Oh...ok." I pressed the speaker button on the ECHOcomm while looking for some food in the fridge and the pantry. 

"Heya, Kiddo!" It was Jack. 

"Want to meet me at Helios in about thirty seconds? Got something interesting for you to do." Handsome Jack said jovially. 

"Jack, sir. I mean no disrespect, but I haven't eaten anything all day. May I meet you there in about half an hour instead?" A contemplative sound issued from the ECHO. 

"You know what, yeah. I'll let you have lunch since it's your first time living here. But after this, no negotiating." 

"Thank you." 

"Yep." The ECHO clicked and turned off. 

I found a couple pieces of bread and toasted them with butter since I didn't know how to make much else. In fact, one time, I'd had to eat raw skag meat for a week with nothing but some desert salt. So, I wasn't picky.   
There wasn't any skag in the fridge, so I settled with “prime rib.” 

"Your tastes have to be more refined if you're in Hyperion, Cat." I told myself, taking a large bite out of the sandwich. 

Heading over to the fast-travel station, I heard talking coming from Angel's monitors. 

"Angel, you ok?" I asked. 

"Yes, fine. Just talking to Jack." 

"Alright, I'm leaving now." I strolled over to the station and pressed a button labelled Helios.   
I appeared in Jack's office and shook of the feeling of nausea that always seemed to follow fast-travelling. 

"You're early, kiddo." 

"I-" 

"don't worry about it, I was just talking to some business partners." I nodded. 

"Well, it's firing Friday! And that means you get to help me sharpen the ranks by removing loose ends. Get it?" 

"Perfectly." 

He smiled, placing one arm around my shoulder, and escorted me through the extensive hallways to what looked like a large firing range. I’m pretty sure I looked reminiscent of a robot as I walked next to Jack; stiff and emotionless, as I stared into space. But when we entered the room, it was me who smiled. 

"Do I get to shoot things?" I asked. 

"Not things, kiddo. People! You get to shoot people! Try it, I'm sure you'll love it!" He handed me a Hyperion pistol with a rustic, slightly fancy look to it, similar to a Jakobs gun. I took a practice shot at one of the actual targets, I held my arm strong, and the kickback wasn't too bad; not like some other guns I've fired. 

"That’s sort of your “welcome to the family” gift. It's the fastest firing and reloading gun Hyperion has ever made." Handsome Jack looked very impressed with himself. 

"Bring out the subordinates!" He yelled. A large door in the back wall raised up, and ten chained people were pushed forward, the heavy door shutting behind them, replacing the metal targets. 

"Uhh... I don't know about this, Jack.' 

"What's the problem, kiddo? They're traitors. They're scum. No importance whatsoever. So, just take the shot." 

I looked through the crosshairs at the blubbering subjects and felt a pang of either guilt or pity. 

“Oh, let them run. It’s not fair for them to know that their fate is sealed.” I pleaded. 

“Ah, for- Fine!” 

 

The hand and foot cuffs were released, and the “prisoners” started running for their lives. They scrabbled like rats at the edge of the massive grey door, attempting to lift it up. A few tried to climb the forcefield that made up the sides of the shooting range. Pitiful, really. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. They were shot down with incredible speed. 

"Woah. Wow! I'm actually impressed, kiddo!" 

I scratched at a splatter of rapidly drying blood on my face. 

"Ok. I'll have to admit, that was kind of fun." 

"Good. You can keep the gun, who knows? You might need it." I turned to head back to the nearest fast-travel station, but Handsome Jack stopped me. 

"Before you go, I have another gift for you." 

"Really?" 

"Come on." He led me back to his office and pulled a very fancy motorcycle out of the wall. 

"Woah, cool! Thanks!" 

"No problem, cupcake. Now go check up on Angel, I'll have this moonshot down." 

I told Jack I was going back to the Bunker, but I grabbed my new motorbike and headed towards Lynchwood. 

The bandits avoided me as I walked through town, those that got too close were stabbed or shot. I made my way to the Sherriff's office and knocked on the door. 

"Howdy, Cat. I do not believe we've formally met. Name's Nisha, I'm the Sherriff 'round here." She reached out to shake my hand; which I took carefully. 

"Jeez, I won't bite!" 

"Hehe. I'm the chief security officer at the Bunker. But I'm sure that's pretty boring to you." I replied. 

"Meh, I prefer the backcountry, more action. So, why'd ya come all the way out here. Kiddo?" 

"Well, I have a strange request," she nodded once, "I have a problem with killing people." 

Unexpectedly, Nisha burst out laughing. "Ask Handsome Jack about that, kiddo. I'm sure he can help you. However," she said, noticing my crestfallen face, "I can help you with accuracy. If you follow me, I'd like to see how you shoot." 

She led me out to a line of people hanging from a railway, swaying in the wind so they almost looked like they were struggling. 

"Go ahead, they're nearly dead anyways." 

"N-Nearly...dead?" 

"Yeah, hung them a minute ago." I stared at them blankly. "Go on then. Think of it as...ending their misery." 

I un-holstered my pistol and aimed at the one who looked the most alive. The bullet fell short and hit the hooded man in the thigh. 

"Ooh. Unlucky shot. Here, when you're using a pistol, aim higher than your target. I suppose you're used to shooting with a sniper?" 

"Yes." 

"Right. Now try again." I aimed higher above the target's head and fired. This time, I didn't miss. Within about ten seconds, the hanging people were dead. "I think you're good, kiddo. Bye." I didn't complain since I was already tired and had a long way to ride back to the Bunker. 

"Right." 

The robots ignored me as I walked up through the BNK-3R's defenses, and the couch seemed a perfectly fine place to sleep. 

"Kiddo get up!" Jack's voice issued through my ECHO, though I didn't respond, my dreary eyes still closed. "Why did you go to Lynchwood?" 

"Because...I thought that Nisha could help me with killing people." 

"Ah, I got that impression from how you responded to the "Firing Friday" thing." 

"I was going to ask if you had any tips for me?" I grabbed a hoodie and walked out to the balcony. 

"Well... There is an idea I have." 

"I am open to suggestions." 

"LET ME FINISH. I'm coming down there, gimme a sec." INCOMING FAST-TRAVEL: AUTHORISATION NOT NEEDED. The robotic voice sounded around the loft, and within seconds, Jack appeared in my living room. 

"Do you know what Eridium does to the average human, kiddo?" He asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the lengths of the chapters are inconsistent, and you'll have to just deal with that. As I've said before, the fic is already complete so I'll definitely post the rest today. Thanks! Kudos and comments always brighten up my day and keep me motivated! ~JustMaggie


	5. Oh, the joys of Eridium

"Well, sort of. It can heal severe injuries, drive you insane, or you could be in a state of heavy addiction for the rest of your life, doing unimaginable things to get a single crystal." I replied.

"You’re not wrong. But it all depends on the taker. When I give Eridium to Angel, it boosts her Siren powers to their full extent, but this one guy I heard of, took one shot of it and murdered his village with one hand. It took over a thousand shots from a high-powered shotgun to bring him down. There were also these two sisters, one turned to bloody slush while the other gained amazing intellect, and that bandit you brought was sick for weeks when I gave some to her. Ya get me? Everybody is different, kiddo." 

I walked over to the couch, sat down, and nodded. "Hmm."

"I’ll let you sleep on it, pumpkin. Don’t want to make crazy impulse decisions right away, save that for after we clean up these bandits." I was about to say goodbye when Jack continued. "Speaking of Bandits, I’ve sent you the direct feed to that “Trixi’s” cell. I need to go, SANCTUARY IS GOING DOWN TONIGHT!!!" Angel had said the day before she’d uploaded an A.I. version of herself into the new power core Wilhelm the cyborg was carrying.  
But the Vault Hunters were already at Tundra Express and had secured the core.

"Good luck, Handsome Jack." I replied, sliding over to the sets of computer monitors, and pulling up Trixi’s feed. The bandit was pacing frantic circles around her cell, muttering that the Vault Hunters would save her.

"They’re not coming here, Trixi. Even if they were, the Bunker’s defenses are too overpowering for them to handle." 

"You’re wrong! One, I'm not even at the Bunker, I'm at Helios. And in two days I will be moved to The Friendship Gulag in the Dust. We’ll see who’s laughing then!" Even though I wasn’t even snickering.

"Why are you being moved?" I asked, although she looked pissed.

"They said it’s because I am too annoying. Imbiciles."

"Ok, whatever you disgusting bandit."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!" 

"Angel?" I called to the other mic.

"Yes? What did you need?" 

"Could you mute Trixi in cell block five please?" I asked, since I didn’t really want her screaming profanity into my speaker.

"No problem, Catlynne. Muted."

"Thank you, Angel. I’ll find some way to pay you back. Lunch? There’s some really good pizza that I can order from Moxxi’s, I’ll call them now."

"No-"

"It’s not a problem, really!" I dialed up the number, and Moxxi answered.

"Yes, sugar? What do you need?"

"Yes, I’d like a small pepperoni with extra cheese delivered to the bunker? Yep, send a buzzard or something…Five minutes? I’ll be right out. Thank you!"

I left Angel and walked out to the platform outside.

As promised, a small buzzard flew over and dropped the box. I caught it and issued the signal for the bots to attack. Two JET loaders took to the sky and shot down the retreating craft.

"Nice going, kiddo!" Jack said through my ECHO. 

"Yep, wanted a pizza." 

I headed back down to Angel, but not to my loft. The door surprisingly opened when I walked towards it, and I saw Angel up-close.

"Can you take this shield down?" She had a strong reflective shield around her, and tubes of liquid Eridium pumping into her veins.

"For a short while, yes."

"Great!" The shield came down, and I handed her a slice, only to be blasted back by what seemed like a wave of pure energy.

"Holy shi-"

"Language! And what are you doing in Angel’s room?!"

"I-I thought she might’ve been lonely and hungry."

"Dad, I’m sorry, I didn’t know…"

Jack let out an annoyed yell.  
"Catlynne, kiddo, go back to your loft. I’ll be right there, and you’d have better decided about the Eridium test!" 

Even though the wind was severely knocked out of me, I blinked once at Angel.   
"Handsome Jack is your father?"

"Yes. Now go! Before he loses his temper!" Heeding her advice, I ran up to my loft. 

Handsome Jack was standing a few feet away from my door with his arms crossed and a small syringe filled with a deep purple liquid in his hand.

"Jack." I acknowledged.

"So, what’s it going to be, Catlynne? Yes or no?" 

Taking a step forward, I said: "Sure, whatever. Go ahead, I’ll admit I am curious as to what this thing will do anyways."

"That is what I like to hear, kiddo.’ He smiled, well, more like smirked, but whatever.

"You might want to sit down, never know what this’ll do." I rolled up my sleeve and sat on the arm of the black couch.

When the thin needle entered the vein on my forearm, I didn’t even flinch. But even though it wasn’t shown on my face, my stomach felt like it had been filled with squirming worms. And my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. 

"There we go, cupcake. All done! Anything happening?"   
Oh yeah, something was happening, and I liked it. It was like my senses were all heightened, and I had a strange crave to kill something that I’d never felt before.

"I want to kill someone, that’s what’s happening, Jack." I replied with an eerie grin on my face.

"Ok, what if I do this?" Without much of a warning, he threw a punch at me. And with reflexes I’d never thought to possess, I grabbed his wrist and nearly snapped it in less than a second.

"Nice one, cupcake! I just hope this lasts."

"I think it’s wearing off now. I feel exhausted." That was true, my body felt worn out and I could barely lift my arms.

"Right. If you were going to do the job I want you to do in two days, you can’t wear out like that."

"I need coffeeeee…' I groaned.

"Yeah, you know how to make it. But, I might have an idea…Hmm…Hold tight, Pumpkin.' He strutted over to the elevator and went down. 

Basically dragging myself to the kitchen, I grabbed the bag of coffee and poured it into the coffee maker. Five (large) cups of coffee later, and Handsome Jack came back through the doors carrying the same syringe with liquid Eridium. Though this time, the deep purple was instead a glowing violet.

"This is the same serum I use on Angel, should keep you like that for longer." Once again, Jack injected the Eridium into my arm and I felt the rush of bloodlust.

"O.K. Well, I’m going to take off, kiddo.’ He said.

"But-but I’ll go crazy!"

"Yep. Ciao." With that, Jack fled.  
I wrung my hands and pulled at my hair in frustration. I needed something to kill. A few rakks met their demise when they landed on my balcony, but I was craving something more. Like a person. I grabbed my sniper and clambered onto the roof. 

A few hours of picking off unfortunate engineers that got in my sights and the Eridium had begun to wear off. This time, I nearly collapsed from exhaustion and had to literally drag myself to the couch to sleep.  
In the middle of the night I woke up with an intense craving for more Eridium. Feeling desperate, I called Jack.

"No, you're not getting more Eridium now, kiddo. After you finish that job tomorrow, then I'll leave some in your loft."

"But I'm dyingggggg!"

"No, you're not. Go back to sleep." The ECHO beeped and shut off. The rest of the night was spent trying to scavenge for any Eridium in the loft, because somehow, I thought Handsome Jack was lying. 

Eventually, the sun rose, and my craving for the mineral was ebbing off. "Wake up, kiddo! Big job today!" I rolled my eyes and blindly reached for the ECHO on the floor.

"Yes?" I replied, turning on the T.V.

"Don’t you remember, kiddo? That bandit is being moved today, and I have a plan. You see, the whole thing was planned out by me. Bandit gets escorted to the Dust, Vault Hunters go to rescue the bandit, you ambush the Vault Hunters, Vault Hunters die. Got it?" 

I shut off the television and hummed a response.  
"So, I left some special Eridium syringes in the compartment in your attic, the code is 26435. Do not inject any of it until you are at the waypoint I’ve set in your ECHO. Wait for the Vault Hunters and when they show up, kill them."

"Got it." I entered the code, grabbed the three large needles filled with the amethyst coloured liquid and rushed out to the Dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is done! Woo! As per usual, kudos and comments are appreciated. Thx! ~JustMaggie


	6. I used to be a Vault Hunter like you

As instructed over the ECHO, I waited at a small overlook beside a less-trodden road for the Vault Hunters to arrive. When I received a blip on my radar telling me that something was heading towards me a kilometer away, I injected one of the Eridium syringes into my arm, ignoring the light purple colouration trailing down my veins.

Deciding one wasn’t enough, I injected the other one, thinking if my injuries got too extreme, I could use the last one. Very soon, I heard something that sounded a lot like “F the police” echoing down the valley. Then I spotted the Vault Hunters. 

The little Gunzerker was sitting in the gunner seat of the bandit technical, the Psycho, Mechromancer, and Assassin cramped in the back. The Commando and Siren were in the front, Maya driving. So, I knew who I was going after first. Taking my position just above the car, I waited just until they were in range and leaped. The car skidded to the right, sending all occupants in the back flying. I crashed right into Maya and Axton, rolling out of the car.  
Before I could scramble off the dusty ground, the Psycho bandit known as “Krieg” tackled me. Taking out my blade-tipped pistol, I stabbed my way out of his grasp into the point-blank range of “Axton’s” sabre turret. 

The rest of the Vault Hunters were standing behind it. Though I felt the bullets hit me, the Eridium currently pumping through my blood kept them sealed.

"Right, I’ve had enough with this Hyperion jackass." Maya stated. She activated her “phase-lock” and I felt paralyzed in place. But, an effect of the Eridium that Handsome Jack neglected to tell me about was that it helped me resist the abilities of Sirens. Using nothing but my willpower, I snapped out of the lock and ran full-tilt at them. 

Gaige summoned her pet robot Deathtrap, who’s digi-struct claws I had to avoid or risk explosion. Maya now relied on her SMG, Axton was continually shooting at me, Kreig had abandoned the group for a piece of sheet metal, Zero was sniping from a higher ledge, and Salvador was being an angry short person. 

Since Zero’s legs were so long, they were an easy target. The pistol bullets collapsed his legs for a minute, leaving me to focus on more “active” targets.  
Any ammunition that was shot at me did hurt and did leave a hole. But the Eridium in my system kept it at bay. Eventually, I gave up on trying to kill them because the small wounds were gaining in number and had started to hurt.

"Jack, I need to head back. Shield and Eridium systems compromised."

"Are you dying, kiddo?" He replied, a hint of subtle concern on his voice that he obviously tried to mask with sarcasm.

"I’ve just used my last Eridium syringe and am still getting shot at. But no, not quite."

"Right, I’m gonna meet you at Bunker. I’ll bring a fresh supply of liquid Eridium with me. Can’t have my best assassin dying on me now!"

I fast-travelled back to my home, where Handsome Jack was sitting at the island in the kitchen with a large cooler (I assumed it was full of Eridium).

"So, here ya go, pumpkin. Fresh supply, just for you!"

"Thanks, sir." He nodded once, smiling.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked.

"Got any alcohol?" His response didn’t surprise me.

"No, sorry." I said, sitting down at the island stools.

"Hmm… ok. Well then, bye, kiddo. See you later!" He replied, heading towards the door. 

As he was leaving, I felt the Eridium start to wear off. Instead of the exhaustion that I was expecting, I was racked with pain as bullet holes started flourishing across my body. Blood was seeping through my clothes, agony overwhelmed me, and I felt darkness start to creep into my conscious mind

"Jack?! Wh-what the HELL is going on?!" I saw him run towards me as I fell into black oblivion.

 

 

My tired eyes opened on the same, clean hospital that I was in when my leg was blown off. Though, this time, something like a permanent I.V. was implanted in my arm. "Good, you’re up. Took them ten hours to figure out how to fix the damage those bandits did. Eventually they came up with this implant that you can put Eridium cartridges in, they’ll keep the bullet holes at bay." Handsome Jack was standing on the far side of the pristine hospital room. 

"I feel like sh- I mean crap. Is there any water around?" Jack grabbed a plastic cup of ice water next to the hospital bed and handed it to me

"Thanks… So, what happens if I don’t replace the Eridium?’ I sat up slowly. It was so quiet I could hear the gears in my robotic leg whirring away.

"Well, the bullet holes come back until you either lose all your blood, or until the five in your head kill you. You see, the Eridium is the only thing keeping that skin of yours stitched nicely together. Once it leaves your system, the fabricated skin dissolves."

Nodding, I put the cup down and checked out the implant in my arm. Mainly silver, with black details and two bright purple bars of light. A clear chrome button showed where I could replace the cartridges of liquid mineral that lay in an organized heap beside me. 

"Does this make me immortal?" I inquired. 

"No, unfortunately. If you get hit like that again, the Eridium won’t be strong enough to absorb the extra damage." I took in the information. 

"So, what about Sanctuary?" I asked, intrigued about the bandit city of the Crimson Raiders. 

"They, um… Flew away. Thanks to that Siren: Lilith. She phase-walked them somewhere, but we are having a party to “celebrate” our near victory. On that note, you do have to stay up here for the time being, but you can also digi-struct any article of clothing that is in your closet from here!" He gestured to a panel on the far wall. 

"Thanks. Why do I have to stay here though?" 

"The doctors want to supervise your condition for a few days before you go back home. And even though they insisted you don’t, I “persuaded” them to let you join the party tomorrow. So, get ready, kiddo!" 

When Jack left, I got up, decided to go for a walk, and left my room. 

"288. Got it. Now, where to go?" I turned to my left and walked down the shining marble hallway. Nothing really of interest happened, although, I did feel the urge to kill something linger around my head constantly. A side-effect of the Eridium, I guessed. I continued wandering until I was chased back to my room by one of the nurses there. 

The cycle of night fell, yet I didn’t feel tired at all. At the beginning of the night, I chose out my clothes to wear to the party. Assuming it would be a professional affair, I picked a medium-length black pleated skirt, a collared white dress shirt, gold tie, and a black cardigan.  
"Stylin" I said to myself. It was something I’d never wear in Sanctuary, but now I was high up in the ranks of Hyperion, so I had the opportunity to wear something fancy. 

The next morning, I attempted to do my makeup. Moxxi hadn’t been much of a help when I stayed in Sanctuary. She was good at clown makeup, not every day makeup. Eventually, I finished my face. Some dark red lipstick, gold eyeliner, mascara, and did my hair up in a low bun. 

 

 

Later that day, two Hyperion personnel escorted me to a higher floor where the party was. "What's that thing on your wrist, lady?" One of them asked. I pulled down my sleeve and replied: "Nothing, just some jewelry. That isn’t your business anyways, nor is it your job." He shut up after that. The party was cool, I was glad I chose the right clothes for the occasion. Some people were interested in what I did and where I worked. "Pandora, I work on Pandora. The rest is classified, sorry." "Aw, come on. It’s not like Handsome Jack can hear you." The girl I was talking to said, laughing. "Actually, Handsome Jack can hear you." Handsome Jack walked up beside me. "Sorry, sir." The curious person apologized. 

"How we doing?" "Fine. No signs of any strange…activities..." I spotted someone in very extravagant clothes getting a drink. "Gimme a moment." I casually walked up beside the person. "So, what do you think of the Sanctuary thing?" I asked. "Umm… Well, it’s a pity they got away." I thought I recognized that slight accent. "Yeah, those Bandits should all be hung out where the rakks can get them before they die." The stranger glanced at my wrist. "I thought you died or were hurt badly by the Vault Hunters." She calls them Vault Hunters, not Bandits…Interesting. 

"No, not really. Though I am surprised they managed to get you out of that prison, Trixi." "Yeah, Maya made most of the plans…wait, what? I’m not Trixi!" "Yep, surre." I left to go tell Jack that we had an intruder. 

"Hey, there’s that bandit that the Vault Hunters stole from the prison in the Dust." I pointed to Trixi, who looked very nervous now. "Really? Right then. Go kill her." He handed me a combat knife. "Okay." I was about to stab her in the back, when I realized she wasn't there any longer. "Hey pretty lady, whatchu doin' here?" An obviously very drunk person staggered over beside me. "Not into drunk guys, sorry." He appeared to get angry. "What'd you say to me?" The drunkard grabbed my wrist, and without missing a beat, I responded with a knife in his ribs. "I said I'm not into drunk guys, idiot." I repeated, leering while he choked on his own blood gurgling at his throat. "And that...Is why you don't screw with me." 

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Jeez, jumpy much, kiddo? Nice job taking that guy out, he still looks like he fell asleep at the bar." "Yeah, I'm going to go home. Too many people looking at me weirdly." He nodded. "I agree. Gonna have to fire some of these jack-holes. Get it? Get the pun?' I snickered. "Yes, Jack. I get it. I'm leaving now." With that, I headed to the nearest fast-travel station, and headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!!! I looove writing battle and party scenes, so this is one of my favourite chapters. Thanks! ~JustMaggie


	7. Life at the Bunker

I exited the fast travel station in hopes of having a shower and going to bed when suddenly, I noticed a person sitting on my couch, watching TV who looked exactly like Handsome Jack. As it turns out, I yell a lot when I'm startled. "WHY IS THERE A JACK IN MY APARTMENT?!" "AHH! I AM NOT JACK!" There was suddenly a lot of noise in my loft as I now had my gun on the apparently not Jack. "Who. Are. You?" I asked slightly breathlessly after yelling. "I'm Jack's body double. My real name is Timothy Lawrence, Handsome Jack told me to look after Angel while he was away. Please don't shoot me." He raised his hands, but I lowered my pistol, he didn't have Jack's mask anyway. 

"Ok, well if you need to, you can stay the...What the hell?!' A mass of something had just appeared in the Highlands sky, I raced outside to get a better look. 

"Wait a minute, that's Sanctuary! Angel?" 

"Yes?" "Tell Jack that Sanctuary is outside the Bunker." "Got it." Though he claimed Jack sent him, I still didn’t quite trust this “Lawrence” guy.  
"Jack?" I called distractedly into my ECHO. "He’s busy, kid." I heard Nisha respond over other strange and unknown noises that I did not need to hear. "Oh my God! Sorry sorry! I’m sorry! Sorry!" I replied quickly, turning off the ECHO. "I don’t need to know what they were doing!" I thought out loud. "Yeah, in all the time I knew Nisha, it’s been interesting and uncomfortable what she has said. To both me and Handsome Jack." Timothy added. "As I was saying before Sanctuary appeared, you are free to stay the night. The couch can pull out into a quite comfy bed, if you want." 

"Thanks, I will." 

"Good. Now, since I haven’t eaten since this morning, I’m going to make some food. You want any?" I asked, heading into the kitchen. "Oh, no thanks. I brought food." He held up a meager PB & J sandwich. "Yeah…no." I made a pot of mac and cheese, which was rather good, then checked up on Angel and went to bed. I couldn’t get to sleep for some reason, and heard Lawrence leave in the middle of the night. Angel seemed to have severe insomnia as well, as she was quite chatty. 

"I’m sorry that I blasted you away like that, I couldn’t control myself." "No, it’s ok. I have a question." "Fire away." "Is there an Eridium-related reason for me not being able to sleep?" She looked thoughtful. "Well, the Eridium would almost super-charge your metabolism. Would you like me to quote the doctor?" 

"Sure." 

"Ok. “With the patient, “Catlynne Sterling,” The added Eridium would cause her to be more aware of her surroundings and be more efficient in the way she burns energy" This was interesting. "Thanks, Angel. I’m going to go out." I packed a bag with some snacks and drinks for my hike and headed to the door. Before I could leave, my ECHO blared. "Hey kiddo, Jack here. Just a quick question. WHY HAVENT YOU BEEN DEFENDING OVERLOOK?! I NEED YOU ORDERING BOTS AND KILLING THOSE BANDITS!" 

I scrambled out of my chair like a frightened bird, throwing it haphazardly to the side and went to the nearest computer, punching in the supply codes to Helios. "Dozen GUN loaders, couple EXPs, maybe a HOT loader or two. Sent." Angel seemed to be doing some ordering of her own, so I didn’t bug her. 

"THOSE BANDITS HAVE DESTROYED THE LOADERS, SEND MORE NOW!!!" I called in for another wave of GUN, HOT, EXP loaders, and a constructor for good measure. I ran my hands through my hair and over my eyes. 

"Ughhhh. This is too much work." I grumbled, laying my head on the keyboard. "You sure about that, kiddo? I could just leave you for dead in the south, let the bullymongs get to you. Or you could keep doing what you’re doing and get payed in Eridium. Got it? Oh for- Angel!? What are you doing?! Those are the bad guys!" I continued to send loaders until Jack lost it on me. 

"WHAT ELSE DO WE HAVE CATLYNNE?!" "Ahhh, uhh. Two badass loaders, a-" "Ok, I don’t care. SEND EVERYTHING AND SEND IT NOW!" 

I called up the supply depot on Helios. "I don’t care if you have to build more fucking loaders! Hurry up and send them now! How dare you say that! I work directly for Handsome Jack, yeah you’d better be scared!"  
The Bandits eventually did get the fast travel network up and running and disappeared to Sanctuary despite the meager hacking I could do. Something seemed to be blocking my signal. 

"Damnit. It’s not your fault, kiddo. I’m sorry. We need more popularity, more support. Something that will rally our supporters. Any ideas?" 

I leaned back in my chair, switched my Eridium cartridge and rolled to the kitchen for some ice cream. "Maybe a show or something. With loaders and weapons and stuff. What’s the biggest loader you have?" I took a large spoonful of the chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream, it tasted so tantalizingly good after the stress of fearing for my life. "Lemme see. A super badass loader is the biggest in terms of weaponry. Why?" I smiled, walked over to my desk, and pulled out some blueprint paper. 

"I have an idea that will blow the crowd away."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the Timothy Lawrence fans out there, he will appear in this fic again. As well as some other favourites.  
>  Thx again!  
>  ~JustMaggie


	8. Here at Hyperion II

Although it sounded like I had a plan, it was a very vague and foggy one. The better part of an entire two weeks was spent planning this out. Bigger than a super badass constructor and five times more powerful. That entire seven days I lived on microwave noodles and energy drinks. 

The Eridium in my bloodstream kept me from sleeping, not from getting exhausted. I'd looked up how to code a simple game called "pong" on the computer, sending it to Angel so she wouldn't be as bored. Unfortunately, now my ECHOcomm was constantly filled with the blips and beeps of the on-line game. 

"Woo! Score!"  
I rubbed my forehead to diminish the headache I currently had and paged Jack.

"Yeah? Any ideas?" He asked.

"No ideas as of yet, but a question?" He hummed a response. "Can I mute Angel? I downloaded a game and she won't stop playing it, I have a hell of a headache."

"No. You can't. Get working on that project, kiddo." I grabbed my pistol and decided to go for a walk.

On this walk I came across an old map in a from the far corners of the universe in a stalker den, on it were labelled a few different solar systems a planet named "Saturn" being one of them. I thought that would be an excellent name since this bot would be totally out-of-this-world! (I know, I'm horrible.) As to not lose the idea, I ran back to my loft and pulled up a digistruct platform, as well as a computer program for designing robots and stuff. I gave it pretty much the same design as normal loaders, except with massive rocket launchers, drone-deploying mechanisms, auto turrets, and of course somewhat normal guns. I brought it up on the digistruct platform and made a small construct of it. "Awesome." I breathed and called up Handsome Jack, he could help with the coding. "What?" He said, sounding exhausted. "It's done. The robot is called Saturn, I think it will blow the people's minds." Jack yawned, "cool. I'll schedule a showcase sometime in the next few days or so. Send me the design?" "Yeah, um... I know I said it was done, but I still need you to code it." "Simple battle strategies? Easy. Code is uploaded to your bot. By the way, shields. Where are they?" "I didn't think they were quite so necessary, sir. Weapons and armour should make up for that department. If anyone can get past it's guns and drones, they'll be squashed like a spiderant." I replied coolly. "Right. Is tomorrow good for a display in Opportunity? Of course, it is. Goodnight, pumpkin." "Oh. Ok-" The communication line cut out abruptly and the sun started to turn the navy sky into a kaleidoscope of greys, pinks, and oranges. By the time you could see the highlands clearly, I had drifted off into a heavy stupor, not quite asleep, but three quarters of the way there. In the middle of a daydream in which I was chasing a stalker, someone pulled my chair away from my desk; causing me to crash to the floor. "Kiddo! Jeez, get up, keyboard-face! We have a robot to reveal!" Obviously, it was Handsome Jack. Who else would have access to my "house?" "Ugg. Ow! What was that for?" I retorted. "Time to go! I've changed the place where we'll be displaying your creation. Instead of Opportunity; where you could've been assassinated by those bandits, we'll be presenting it in the hub of heroism at Helios. Get dressed." Jack sat down in my swivel chair while I scraped myself off the floor and sulked to my bedroom closet. The clothes I picked were like the ones I'd worn at the Hyperion party. Instead of a pleated black skirt, I wore pair of black dress pants, no tie, a white blouse with some ruffling at the collar, and a black blazer with gold-plated edging. I did some light makeup; apart from some matte black lipstick, and just brushed my hair. "Getting long, it is." I said to myself, before Jack knocked harshly on my door. "What's taking so long? Move it!" I grabbed my bag which had a conveniently-placed pouch for my gun: Acute lead dealer and exited the Bunker with Hansome Jack. 

I still felt nauseated after fast-travelling, but it was getting better... Who was I kidding? I felt like retching onto the floor right then and there. Thankfully, I didn't. Handsome Jack escorted me to the Hub of Heroism, a place I'd never really been before now. Sure, I had seen video coverage, but that was about it.

"Hello, welcome to Helios. I'll be your guide slash manager for today."

I looked around to see a tanned woman with something like side swept dreadlocks on her head and smart glasses on. Also, Handsome Jack had mysteriously disappeared from my field of vision.

"Hi...Catlynne, nice to meet you." I greeted awkwardly, going in for a handshake.

"My name's-"

"Yvette! How was lunch?" A young intern who looked about my age walked in with his very nerd-looking friend.

"Invisible. Thanks for stealing it, Rhys. Now go away, I have a new managing position I need to fill properly." Yvette replied.

"Yeah, well you stole mine last week. So, it's payback. Who's this?" The intern asked, gesturing to me.

"Catlynne's the name. If you all will pardon me, I have an important showcase to do, and I can't be late. Yvette, could you show me where I need to be, please?" I replied with a subtle air of annoyance.

"Yes, sure. Right this way."  
We left the two friends and headed into the center of the Hub of Heroism where a giant something stood, covered in a gold-yellow sheet. I assumed it was Saturn. What else could be that big?

"Well, people of Helios, I won't spend too much time talking because, amazingly, I wasn't the one who came up with this massive project here. Hell, I can't even remember its name!" A lot of nervous laughter ensued from the audience as Jack spoke, probably afraid he'd kill them if they actually laughed. I fixed up the skin-coloured microphone attached to the side of my head. 

"Here she is, Catlynne Sterling!" I walked out proudly to a mob of whooping people who I'd never seen before.

"Wow. Hey, my name, as you all know, is Catlynne. I've spent the last weeks up in my "lab" working on this astounding project. Spoilers: it's a robot! Give a round of applause for Saturn!" 

I walked quickly up the steps and pulled the sheet off my robot. All it's spotlights were on, and it took a massive step forward that seemed to shake the whole space station. Cheers rang around the open room and even Handsome Jack patted me on the back.

"Good job, kiddo." He said.

Everything was good for a while. There was a delicious buffet and drinks were served to everyone. Until the crack of a sniper bullet sent everyone ducking for cover. Glass shattered over the floor, people were yelling, and there was a massive bloodstain on the grey and yellow ground. 

"Cat! That robot better do something now!" Nisha had appeared in the crowd dressed more professionally than usual and was shooting at the attempted assassin. I grabbed my gun from my bag and ran to Saturn.

"Lethal force authorized, collateral damage not acceptable."

The construct repeated my command. I had made it voice-activated only to me, others could input it manually. The massive yellow robot aimed a turret at the running would-be assassin and fired. The blast hit him and only him.

I was happy, Handsome Jack was happy, and the people were happy. Things were A-OK.  
So, I finished up whatever I was eating and left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda hard to figure out what to write that isn't "Whew! Finally done!" Because I wrote this like, three weeks ago. But I am glad I can finally post this, since I have an account. So, there's that.  
> Thank ya'll for reading!  
> ~JustMaggie


	9. Even Angels fall

As usual, it was empty. The loft did get rather boring as there wasn't any excitement or attacks, my ECHOnet seemed to be always down, and Angel was very quiet. Only responding with simple, one-worded answers when I tried to start a conversation. I brought up the fact that she could be falling ill or something with Jack, but he consistently brushed it off as her "being in a bad mood." 

Things got a bit better the next day. Mordecai was going back out to scout some Hyperion trains, and I was supposed to capture him. Child's play. 

 

I fast-travelled to tundra express at dusk, a time that Mordecai had taught me was the best time to scout. A lot less people, and much more difficult to see you. But something I didn't think about was Bloodwing, his pet bird. She would prove to be quite a hassle. 

The first hour in, and the workers were mostly sitting on metal folding chairs with their heads lolling back in sleep. I snuck past them, quiet as a mouse, and moved on to where I saw the dark shadow of a trash feeder circling above a supply depot. I had brought a throwable net to subdue the dangerous avid, it was shot from what looked to be a shotgun, not my favourite weapon to use, but my weapon nonetheless. 

Jack had told me to leave my pistol and such in my loft, I needed my target(s) alive for questioning. Speaking of which, I heard a raspy screech as Bloodwing obviously saw me. What was I even thinking, standing under a light? Razor-sharp talons tried to claw at my face and head as I fumbled with the net-shooter. The feathered little beast flew back to where I assumed Mordecai was. My suspicions proved correct as a sniper bullet whizzed towards me, as well as another dive-bomb from Bloodwing. 

I shot and missed by meters. A wooden crate became my only shield against Mordecai's fire as I painstakingly reloaded the gun. (My portable shield had been left at home since I didn't think I'd need it.) 

When that stupid bird was in range, I fired nearly blind and heard a cry from it as it went down. That's when Mordy decided to show his face.  
"You honorless Hyperion bi-" He was stopped in his insult by me throwing a nearby bottle of Rakk ale at him, causing it to shatter on his head, and letting me get away with the pissed off bird.  
"Oh, the irony." I leered as he groaned in pain on the ground.  
Handsome Jack quickly had her sent off to the exploitation preserve for Eridium experimentation, while I added coin to my pocket and went home, still bored as hell. 

 

Within a few days, the Vault hunters had gone to try and retrieve the bird, I just sat on the couch, trying to get my ECHOnet up and running again. It didn't seem to want to work, and Angel was no help whatsoever.  
I decided to go back to Lynchwood to possibly practice more marksmanship and thank Nisha for helping out at Helios. 

"Nice to see you in one piece, I'd have thought all that office wear would've killed you, Nisha." I said, drinking some bottled water.  
"It's definitely not my style, we had a big bonfire just to burn the clothes *cough* and some people *cough*."  
I looked outside, just some midgets trying to piggyback each other.  
"I don't necessarily enjoy wearing the work clothes, either. Mostly, I do computer work and such in sweatpants and a hoodie."  
Nisha grabbed a bottle of what I assumed was whiskey or something, popping the cork off with her teeth and chugging the thing. 

With a burp she replied: "Jack's pampered ya, kid. You should stay a month out here. Would be...educational."  
When Nisha had started walking in a zig-zag and speaking in slurs, I left. 

When I returned home, I found that a marathon of Game of Games had started on the ECHO T.V. I quickly made some popcorn and sat down to watch it. Unfortunately, it was a season I had already seen, but I left it playing loudly in the background for some "company" while I ate popcorn and browsed an online store. *Beep beep* I answered my ECHO call, it was Handsome Jack. 

"Hey, kiddo. Those bandits have made it past the death wall, could you make sure they don't get any further?"  
"Yep," I pressed a button on my ECHO, "The bots are set to automatically attack. They'll rip those bandits apart.  
The bots were a cheap defense, but quite a strong one. Knowing that the massive flying robot called: The BNK-3R (or Bunker) would wake if the turrets were taken out, I relaxed and watched the show on full volume.  
In a few minutes, I heard someone scream while I washed the bowl I was eating from, but assuming it came from the T.V., I brushed it off and kept washing. Again, after some time I heard another. "Maybe it's just the crimson wedding." I said to myself, until I happened to look at my ECHO while it was blaring.  
"Hello?"  
"KILL THOSE BANDITS AND KILL THEM NOW! DEFEND ANGEL WITH YOUR GODDAMN LIFE!" 

I bolted to the elevator, went down, and slammed the button to open the gate but the doors were locked, my hands did nothing to try and pry them open, so I slumped down against the door, the sound of fighting in my ear and started sobbing. "No no no, please, not her!" I wept, banging my fist against the steel door with all my might until it bruised. I hadn't heard myself cry in a long time, which reminded me that it was quiet. 

Angel was gone. 

I shook as I walked back up to my loft, the sharp crack of a gun made me nearly jump out of my skin. It wasn't that I was scared of the gun, I was scared of who was behind it. 

Things became even more terrifying when the words: "Incoming fast-travel; authorization not needed," sounded around my loft. 

 

I was going to die, I knew it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best to pour in all the sadness I could into this chapter, since (at least for me) Angel's death was a tearjerker. Hope that sadness showed itself! (For best results, I suggest listening to something depressing. Ex: Ocean eyes by Billie Elish) Sorry if I didn't spell that right.  
> Thank you again!  
> ~JustMaggie


	10. Descent

Handsome Jack was now the most frightening person on this planet, and he was a few feet away from me with just a thin wall to keep him from killing me. “Cat, could you come on out so we can have a chat?” He said. But I was stupid and followed his order. 

"There you are, why don't we have a talk?" He took a step forward. I backed up slowly, raising my hands out in front of me. "I'm sorry, Jack. I tried, really, I did! The doors were locked and I-" "Shh, stop apologizing. You'll have time for that after." His voice was low, threatening, and he had a maniacal smirk on his face. Although, his bicolored eyes told a different, sorrowful story. "Af-after? After what?" I asked feeing trapped as my back hit the wall. "After. Could you boil some water? I'd like some coffee" Jack said calmly, his tearstained mask relaxing slightly. But I'd spent months around him, and I could tell that there were some malevolent intentions behind that synthetic flesh. 

I did think it was strange though, him just leaning against the counter waiting for coffee when his daughter was just killed, but I grabbed a large pot (since I wanted some too), filled it with water, and heated it up. 

Within a couple minutes, the water turned to a rolling boil and I was just about to turn it off and pour it into the coffee maker when out of nowhere, Handsome Jack grabbed my wrists and dunked my right hand into the scalding liquid. I instinctively tried in vain to pull my hand out of the pot, and tried to kick Jack away, but nothing happened. My eyes were shut tightly to the point they hurt, the skin on my hand felt like it was sliding around, and the burning pain was alike to a thousand white-hot needles being repeatedly stabbed into it. 

Apparently, I lost my voice from screaming, or the loudness had busted my eardrums, I didn't care. After only three minutes (which felt like ages) Handsome Jack let go of my wrist, letting me retract my arm at the speed of a bullet and collapse in a ball, stinging tears rolling in a solid stream down my face.< I grudgingly opened my eyes to look at my boiled hand. I shouldn’t have. The skin that stayed on was a thick, slimy, sickly grey colour. Where it hadn't stayed on, I could see parts of bloody muscle and tendons, and I retched what meager food was in my stomach on the laminate wood floor. But things were about to get worse. 

Handsome Jack grabbed me off the floor by my burnt hand and slowly peeled off the skin like it was a ripe banana, I screeched like a dying Rakk the whole time, and would've passed out if not for the Eridium in my bloodstream. 

"You can apologize now, kiddo. Because now you know how I felt when you let those FUCKING BANDITS KILL MY BABY GIRL!... You know how to get to Eridium Blight. You're going to walk there, no car, no fast-travel. Got it?" I whimpered a reply and Handsome Jack left. It was then I realized that my trust was misplaced. 

This man was insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not even gonna apologize for the short chapters, but if you have suggestions, comment them. This was painful to imagine whilst I wrote it. (Tip: look up boiled hand if you want to see what I'm describing)  
> Thanks!  
> ~JustMaggie


	11. Not your usual hike

I lay for about an hour, curled up in a ball on the floor and clutching my hurt hand by the wrist, tears falling silently from my now purple-tinted eyes.

But there was no point in dwelling on it, I had no fast-travel, no connection to anywhere I really wanted to be.

Trixi had died in Angel's chamber, as well as Roland, Lilith was in Eridium Blight with Jack, and it was unlikely that anyone in Sanctuary would welcome me back.

I decided to pack up and leave, there really was nothing left for me here. If I was lucky, I could get a health pack once I reached Hero's Pass. 

Before I left, I found a light gauze wrapping in a first aid kit and slowly and tenderly coiled it around the obscenity that was my hand.

"Tss, shit. Need new skin, that's what I need. And some anti-biotics in case it gets, ow! Infected."

The hand was so tender, even the gauze was excruciating to put on, even more so once it was there. I had to take it off, blood was seeping through it anyway. What I ended up doing was taping a plastic bag around my wrist, it was the best I could do without harming myself further.

"I wish I was a southpaw, would make packing water bottles so much easier. Goddamn it, I need to walk through the dust. Jack won't know if I use a catch-a-ride station, I do have my old fake I.D. I used to get into Moxxi's." I muttered to myself.

I wore my old outfit from the Crimson Raiders that was hidden in the back of my closet and headed out with a dark leather bag containing five bottles of water and two boxes of Torgue chocolate chip cookies. Then left my apartment for what I hoped would be the last time. 

Three hours into the trek to Eridium Blight and I was only halfway through Thousand cuts, the sun was starting to fall behind the mountains of the Highlands, casting sharp shadows off the cliffs and bandit camps. 

Then it started raining. 

Not your gentle rain that you could go out and splash around in, like I used to do the rare occurrence it ever rained in Fyrestone, but the stinging, heavy pellets that shot down from blue-black clouds and ricocheted off what they hit. 

The only shelter I had, was a dog house with a rusty, corrugated steel roof that dripped cold water on my head through bullet holes in the grey metal. To even stay under cover, I had to hug my knees tight to my chest and pull my hood over my head.

In the middle of the night my eyes finally grew heavy, and I slipped into a shallow, haunted sleep. Nighmares of drowning in scalding water and the malevolent, crazed laughter of Handsome Jack echoed throughout my mind. I woke up with a start when I was stabbed through the back by Angel. I knew it wasn't her fault that my hand was boiled, just, for some reason, my mind didn't want to pin the blame on anyone else. 

It was around five in the morning when I woke up, changed my Eridium cartridge... I then realized I'd actually slept, something the ailen element in my system never allowed me to do. Perhaps it was fading?  
No, I still felt like wrapping my hands around someone's throat and squeeze until they turned blue and collapsed. If only I could ask Angel, she would've pulled up some extensive file on Eridium for me to read. But she couldn't, since she was dead.

Within another hour or so, I found my way out of Thousand Cuts while the bandits were either asleep or passed out. Truthfully, I didn't care since I slit their throats anyway to ease the tension in my mind. 

 

The Highlands brought with them a breath of fresh air that was so sweet to breathe after what I'd just experienced. 

Even the Threshers and Stalkers couldn't ruin this view for me. I gazed out past the Hyperion moonshot center to see the old Dahl dam, still infested by the bandit clan called the "Bloodshots" I believed. God, had I ever wished the Crimson Raiders had just taken it from them, I could've had my own room with my own decorations and everything.

Although, I did have that. Not really with my own decorations, but my own apartment. Admittedly, it did get rather lonely after days with only Angel or Nisha or Jack to talk to. At least, when I lived in Sanctuary, Lilith was always down to play a game, be it Bunkers and Badasses or even tag (we usually looped Tiny Tina into it if she was available or forced Roland to play. It was fun). 

Scooter would usually let me test-drive a new car design as long as I wore a helmet, and Roland, as grumpy as he could be, would usually take me out to take care of bandits or to gather supplies. Now, Lilith was charging the Vault key somewhere deep in Hero's Pass, Scooter was still in the now flying Sanctuary, and Roland lay dead in the Bunker. 

I kind of missed those days. 

Shaking off the nostalgia and guilt, I continued down the hill where I knew there was a Catch-a-Ride and a health-pak vending machine. I punched in the number to dispense one and put the right amount of bills into the slot.

A bright red syringe rolled out of the bottom and I injected it into my wrist. Nothing happened.

I replaced the bag and thought if I waited for a few minutes the skin might regrow. Nope, the irritated skin at the base of the burn was the only thing that really healed, stitching together in a neat edge all around my wrist but leaving the muscle and tendons exposed once more. I slammed my left hand on the top of the Catch-a-Ride in frustration.

"God damn this place," I sighed, "whatever. Might as well just get the car." 

I punched in the numbers in my fake I.D. To which the very southern-accented Scooter replied.

"Girl where have you beeeen? You steal my motorcycle and disappear for months? Uncool, man."

"Scoot, I really need a car.

"You stole my motorcycle-thang, what happened to that? You should be able to ride it wherever ya need to go."

"I can't ride it with only one hand. There was an... accident." I replied, scratching the back of my head. 

"One hand?! Where'd the other one go?!"

It then occurred to me that Hyperion might be listening in on the conversation and shut me out of the Catch-a-Ride. "Shit. Scooter, I just need authorization now. I'm in trouble and need to get away quickly." "Ok, sure. But you best come back to Sanctuary soon, Roland is dead and Handsome Jack has Lilith." He replied, I could hear the worry in his voice. "Thanks, Scoot. And I'll return the bike when I can." 

The face of the station glowed green to signify that I was successfully in the system and initially ordered a gold-plated runner, but then I thought about blending in to avoid possible attacks, Nisha was right, Jack had pampered me. A gold car... What was I thinking? I decided on a deep sea-green paint with freckles of gold instead. I floored the gas while steering with both my left hand and my right elbow. It was rather awkward since I'd never really done anything important with my left hand and I was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Maybe it was adrenaline, or fear, or both, I didn't really know. The radio seemed to be cut off, all the stations replied with static or emergency alerts. My ECHOcomm had been snatched by something the night I'd slept in the old dog-house, so I couldn't play my own music. Halfway through the day, the highway I was driving on became very sandy, and I nearly cried because I was finally at the Dust. Then I actually cried because my car broke down and caught on fire. "Ffff-frick! I was so close!" I tightened both my hands into fists and immediately screamed in pain. "My hand! Shit, that hurts!" The problem was that the plastic bag I'd used to cover it up had stuck to the burn when I balled up my hands, and now I had to pull it off with non-voluntary tears blurring my vision. "Oww." I sucked it up, wiped my tears away, and took the first step onto the burning sand. 

 

The Dust was brutal, half the time I wished I'd brought more water, the other half, I was tripping over my own feet while trying to see through heat shadows and mirages. 

At least my jeans were loose-legged and ripped, offering what little breeze there was in this arid place, my jacket was tied around my waist, and the scarf I had around my neck now kept the sun out of my eyes and my hair off my back. 

The gold sand felt like wet concrete as I dragged my legs through it, sunburn turning my pale skin into a painful reddish-pink, and the heat seemed to latch right onto my skinless hand with piercing ferocity, so I kept it covered with a bit of excess fabric from my scarf. 

Three days into the desert landscape and I realized I'd been going the wrong way. I was supposed to head north. Instead, I went east. Normal mistake, but possibly a fatal one in my case.  
My water had run out an hour ago, and my last box of cookies was nearly gone. 

Then I saw it, a huge cave mouth in a rocky hill; my salvation.  
"Finally!" I yelled, picking up the pace towards the cavern 

The sign in the entrance read: "Hollow point" in painted-on black lettering.  
I stumbled in and spotted what I hoped was a bar in the middle of the shabby town. The violets tipped me off.  
Indeed, it was a bar; The Purple Skag, it was called. I pushed open the door and ordered a glass of water from the girl in tied-back dreads and talon earrings at the counter. 

"Sure thing." She said, "looks like you need it." Handing me the cold glass which I drained in seconds. 

"Were you lost? I didn't hear any cars come in." 

I was hoping she wouldn't ask any questions, but she did. 

"Yeah, I was headed to Three Horns and took the wrong turn." 

"Hell of a wrong turn, to end up here." She replied, cleaning the counter. 

"I know. But I better go. Is there a Catch-a-ride around here?" I asked, paying for my drink. 

"A small one, over on the north entrance. That road should take you right to Three Horns valley. Good luck." 

I said thanks and began to walk through town. Nearing the Catch-a-ride, a girl who looked around my age caught my eye. She had thick, nearly jet-black hair that was swept over her right eye and cut short; up to her neck. But it wasn't just her hair that attracted my attention, she also had, from what I could see, bright blue eyes. 

I had to talk to her. 

"Hey" I called politely. She turned her head, looking nervous. 

"Who're you?" She replied cautiously. 

"My name's Cat. What about you?" I walked towards her, so I didn't have to raise my voice. 

"Uhh, I'm not supposed to be talking to strangers." 

"Are you sure I'm a stranger?" 

She pulled the arm of her blue sweater over her left hand, curling it into a fist to keep it covered. 

"Ang-" A tanned man in a kinda dingy white shirt and rough jeans jogged down the alley and stepped in front of the girl. I noticed him glance at my cybernetic leg, still with noticeable yellow paint. 

"Get away, go back to the house, now." He said to her in an urgent tone. 

"Why?" She replied. 

"She's Hyperion." The unknown, but familiar man whispered. 

She drew in a quick breath and took off down the street, climbing a ladder and running over the rooftops. 

“No, wait! Angel!” I called. The girl stopped and stared right back at me.

“Get. Back. To. The. House.” The man said, gesturing for her to leave. She continued to stare. “Now!”

Then I knew where I recognized him from. The arched scar and coiffed hair gave him away. I was about to run away, when he had a gun pointed at my face. 

"Forget what you saw here, forget you were even here." His voice confirmed my suspicions. 

"Timothy? What're you-" 

"I said: forget you were here and leave." 

I cowered. Though I knew this wasn't Jack, the voice was still the same. And I knew not to mess with whoever used that tone anyways. Even if they didn't resemble Handsome Jack so closely. 

"Ok, I'll leave. But, could you point me to Eridium Blight?" I asked, my hands in front of me. 

"You're going to see Jack, aren't you?" He replied, looking even more frightened.

Before I could even say another word, a bullet whisked right by my ear. I looked up to see the fabled ex-Atlas assassin: Athena, reloading an assault rifle.  
I quickly picked up a rock and threw it at her as a distraction while I ran down the alley. 

Shots rang out from around me as I dashed for what I hoped was the north exit, like that woman had said. Athena was hot on my trail, until she wasn’t. I looked back and didn’t see her chasing me anymore, so I caught my breath against a brick wall.

Bad mistake.

A kinetic aspis shield came hurtling towards me and hit my head, knocking me unconscious. 

When I woke up, I was at the Catch-a-ride. And could remember none of the events after leaving the purple skag. I ordered a car, and left.

It took me about three days before I arrived at a yellow and grey Hyperion gate, with slag staining the bottom and a dark cloud of volcanic ash in the crystal-blue sky. 

This was where I needed to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to hike, but this isn't a path I'd want to walk on. Thankfully, Catlynne has a car! Spoilers: Jack doesn't find out about that. Lol  
> Also, I think this might be my longest chapter since I've edited it. ALSO, the Angel and Timothy thing is a reference to Heavybreathingcat's fic "Wolf among Wolves" ya'll should read it, it's really, really good.  
> Thx  
> ~JustMaggie


	12. Mercy, my ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS PART IS FINALLY FINISHED!!! WOOHOO!!

Once I stepped through those yellow and grey doors, my lungs were filled with cloying, sulfuric air which I attempted to cough out to no avail. After walking a few more minutes, I stopped at a Catch-a-Ride with a massive gold statue of Jack beside it. The Fast-travel there was deactivated for me too.

"Well done, kiddo! Made it here alive, did ya?" I nearly jumped at the voice from my ECHOcomm, since I'd forgotten about Handsome Jack.

Through his talking I heard cries of pain from elsewhere in the "room".

"Um, is someone hurt in there, Jack?" I said the name with what I hoped was an undetectable tone of vehemence.  
He noticed.

"Watch your tone, Catlynne. Or you'll have to let me know if you like your other hand hard, or soft-boiled. Anyway, I'm just doing knife-throwing practice with Lilith. Don't think she's enjoying it. In the meantime, I'll open up that Fast-travel station for you, but only because I'm a hero and heroes show mercy."

"Mercy, my ass." I muttered under my breath, hoping he wouldn't hear. Thankfully, the ECHO had shut off and the Fast-travel opened so I could go hang out with the man who ruined my hand, plus my life. 

 

Hero's Pass was interesting to say the least, plenty of veins of what I supposed was Eridium wreathed around the ancient grey stone, and bright Hyperion yellow was mixed into the fray. Soldiers, snipers and loader bots were making their rounds around the floodlighted halls. I seemed very out of place with my muted camouflage tones.

“You idiots can let her through, she’s with me.” Jack’s accusing voice rang out over the speakers, and the bots and soldiers continued to pretend I wasn’t there as I walked by.  
Near the entrance to the Vault I got excited and ignored my fear and the pain in my hand. Now I was officially the youngest Vault Hunter to successfully find a real Vault, and no-one could stop me. Well, maybe Handsome Jack.

“Woah...” I breathed, staring up at the Eridian statues with lava seeping from their eyes and walking backwards towards the elevator.

“Heya, kiddo! How’s the hand? Ha! I’m funny...”

“Yeah, sure. It’d be funny if you could re-grow the skin on my hand, John.” I spat the name in hopes of getting a reaction, a reaction I did get.

“I wasn’t joking when I said I’d burn your other hand as well. Or, you know, I could just toss you in the lava, be rid of you that way. Your choice, Catlynne.” He retorted, typing something in on a console at the far end of the path made of stone and lava. A small digi-struct station powered up beside him.

“Come here, Cat.” He said, waving his hand.

I tried to ignore Lilith floating in midair on orange wings and charging the Vault key, but it was difficult not to. I still walked up carefully beside Jack. 

“Put your burnt hand under the digi-struct thing.”  
I hesitated.  
“Go on, I’m not going to hurt you anymore.” 

Slowly, I hovered my hand in the small metal box and felt a strange sensation over the boiled part, similar to if the hand had fallen asleep. Jack pressed a blue button and the machine started constructing what looked to be oddly pale synthetic flesh, a mirror of the stuff that made up Handsome Jack’s mask. 

“You were complaining about needing a new skin, so I thought “why not” and gave you one. How’s it feel?”  
I curled my hand into a fist for the first time in a while and felt no pain. To test if my hand had become any weaker, I proceeded to punch that smug-ass grin off Jack’s sadistic face.

“Feels great now, Jack. Thanks.”

What I didn’t see coming was how quickly Handsome Jack could recover from my badass sucker-punch, and he responded with an elbow strike to the ribs and a knee to the chin, landing me a foot away on my back with the wind knocked out of me. My hair dangled over bubbling lava that rose and fell in slow, steady waves, almost like it was breathing.

“Never do that again. Do you hear me?!” He roared with impetuous ferocity while I lay, trying to catch my breath.  
I pulled myself up, my ribs and jaw aching and bruised.

“Rodger that.” I coughed, spitting out a glob of bloody phlegm into the molten lake beside me. Slowly, I got up and prepared my cot for the night to come. 

I was really looking forward to getting another full night's rest after that long day, but sleep wouldn't come. Perhaps it was the fact that Handsome Jack was frantically pacing between computers, typing and doing stuff I didn't know about. 

The blanket on the bed created almost a convection oven, since the lava surrounding me heated it up so greatly, it was almost unbearable. Eventually, I tossed the cover into the lake of molten rock and watched it bubble and burn before sinking. The magma was a sort of entertainment for when I grew bored in the middle of the night. Choosing multiple things from my gear chip like cookies, glass, or gold jewelry and dropping them into the volcanic waste to see what colour flame would behold from the burning object. 

It was hard to tell when the sun came up, since the ash and smoke blocked out the sky. But when it did, I found that Jack was still up, and typing something once more.

"Angel, could you grab me some coffee, please?" He said, not looking at me.

"I am not your daughter." I replied carefully. He stopped typing. "Did you hear me? I am not Angel, and I never will be. It's not my fault that you were so craven as to not teleport down there and save her. That's what an actual hero would do, and you failed at that, Jack."

I couldn't tell if he was crying or laughing, maybe it was both. But in a flash, he had his gun aimed at my head, and I had my pistol aimed at his.

"You didn't know what to do then, you still don't know what to do now, Cat." I had no idea what he was talking about. "If those doors had actually opened, what would you have done? Charged in, guns aflame? You would've been killed instantly. That's why I didn't "teleport in there"."

"No, it's because you're a coward. Too prideful to risk your life for even your only child's."

He cocked the pistol he was holding, and I did the same with mine.

"You don't have the guts to shoot me, kiddo, admit it. You're just as cowardly as you accuse me of being." He put away the gun with a sly smile. I narrowed my eyes and shot right beside his head. I was glad to see him look frightened by it.

After a few hours, Handsome Jack had calmed down, and I sat against a pole, eating the rest of the chocolate chip cookies I hadn't tossed in the lava before a fusillade of gunfire blasted from behind where I was leaning. Some ricocheted off my shield or missing me altogether. 

“Vault hunters! You’re right on time! Key’s nearly ready. But before I cleanse this planet for good, I’m going to avenge my daughter!” Handsome Jack chuckled, activating his cloaking device. 

I scrambled for my pistol as the six hunters charged forward, guns blazing. But then, I thought of something; why would I want to possibly die for someone who would never even think of doing the same for me? There was no reason, none at all. Instead, I holstered my pistol and picked up a handful of loose pebbles. I didn’t want to hurt the Vault hunters, just distract them.   
The team had lost sight of the real Jack and had already killed off the many doubles, though I knew right where he was. Nursing some bullet holes in his arm and a few in his stomach behind an Eridian statue. 

“Need a little help there?” I asked in a quiet sing-song voice. 

“Shut up and start killing them!” He spat back. 

"Maybe if you apologize for ruining my life, you piece of shit.” I replied happily.

“How dare you—fine. Sorry. I’m...sorry.” He looked like he was about to start weeping. 

“Thanks!” I helped him up and threw a small, round stone at Axton’s head. “Over here, bandits!” I called, running away from bullet fire and throwing more grey pebbles at the band while Handsome Jack shot at them. 

Until they caught sight of Jack again and abandoned me. I raced after them with my pockets full of rocks, until I noticed that the Siren wasn’t with them. 

Maya was on the ground, cradling her tattooed arm, dark red blood spilling from her fingers. A frustrated groan escaped my throat, and I pulled up a digistruct box with a health-pak inside. I grabbed the long syringe and called:   
“Hey, Maya, catch!” And throwing the needle at her. She looked up and phaselocked it in place right before it shattered on the floor. The Siren snagged the health-pak out of the bubble of energy and injected it into her arm. Within seconds she got up, gave me a curt nod in thanks, and went to finish Handsome Jack off. 

Even though I really hadn’t fought much, I was exhausted and covered in soot as the Vault Hunters had Jack surrounded. 

“No! The key is charged!” Lilith cried, before collapsing in an Eridium shield. Jack, covered in his own blood with an unsettling amount flowing out of his stomach and dripping onto the ground, pushed the key into the slot and started laughing. 

“You’re too late, bandits! I WIN! Hahaha. The greatest alien power Pandora has ever seen...and it’s MINE to control!” 

I jogged up beside the Vault Hunters, who were staring at the veins of Eridium-infused stone, lighting up in a bright violet glow to a leviathan arch at the end of the pass. The ground shook as the fabled “Warrior” burst out from behind it. A lava dragon was the most basic of descriptions I could think of at the time. 

It jumped down a few meters from where I stood. 

“Warrior!” Jack called. “Kill.” 

The Vault Hunters all jumped out of the way, but I was frozen like a Skag in headlights when its massive claw came swooping out of the air and caught me in the side, sending me cascading over the edge of the cliff to land unconscious on the plateau below. 

 

End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not fret, I shall return with a continuation of this fic. Hint: It involves Tales.  
> It's been fun, see you then!  
> ~Just Maggie

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is a short chapter. There will be longer ones, I swear...kinda  
> Thx!  
> ~JustMaggie


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